Shapeways 144

Monday, October 02, 2017

1/144 SH-3A Sikorsky Sea King - AFV Club

1/144 SH-3A Sikorsky Sea King - AFV Club
Following on from the success of the AFV Club P40 series, further releases are on their way.

The Sikorsky SH-3 Sea King is a twin-engine medium-sized amphibious rotorcraft. Many of the features on board the Sea King represented a considerable advancement over preceding helicopters. In addition to being fully amphibious and capable of operating under all weather conditions, it holds the distinction of being the first operational American helicopter to be able to simultaneously hunt and destroy submarines.[6] Its twin-turboshaft powerplant layout gave the SH-3 a higher payload and greater reliability than previous anti-submarine helicopters.[5] In the event of a single engine failing, the Sea King could continue flying on a single engine.

Several Sea Kings, operated by the United States Marine Corps's HMX-1 unit, are used as the official helicopters of the President of the United States, for which the call sign 'Marine One' would be used.

The Sea King has also proved to be popular on the export market with foreign military customers, and has also been sold to civil operators as well. As of 2015, many examples of the type remain in service in nations around the world. The Sea King has been built under license by Agusta in Italy, Mitsubishi in Japan, and by Westland in the United Kingdom as the Westland Sea King